NASA is announcing that their recent bombing of the Moon was a success: there's ice just below the surface. T
he LCROSS spacecraft, which launched the original explosive, then analyzed the plume of debris sent up with an infrared spectrometer, detected the absorption of water. It did so on multiple occasions, pretty much acing the discovery.
What does this mean? To establish colonies and permanent refueling centers on the Moon requires a steady supply of water. If it's not there, you have to bring it with you, making the cost and weight requirements of space travel all the higher.
With quantities of water now present -- we still don't know how much, but scientists are estimating it's a lot -- that changes part of the equation and gets us that much closer to establishing a lunar base with a corresponding nuclear waste disposal system that can go critical in the year 1999, blowing the Moon out of orbit and into the recesses of deep space.
Maybe.